Things in Bags

It probably seems like a strange title for a blog post, but let me tell ya! Guatemala has an obsession with putting things in plastic bags. I've been collecting pictures of all the unusual things you can get in a bag here in Panajachel. It's been fun! Enjoy. :)

Pop! A lot of carbonated beverages come in glass bottles here. If you don't want to pay the deposit and return the bottle later to get your money back, the store owner will pour your soda into a plastic baggie and give you a straw. Neat, eh?
Sidenote: Coca-Cola in Guatemala tastes like the '80s. It's made with real sugar. 

Need a couple eggs? Head to the corner store and pick up however many you need...in a bag!
TIP: You can buy eggs in cartons at the Despensa and some other stores and then reuse the carton if you're worried about breaking your eggies.  :)

A bag of agua pura, drinking water. No straw! Just gnaw off the corner and slurp away.

Teeny little bags of mayo and ketchup  that you get at food carts for your corn, your  sandwich, your pizza, whatever! Guatemaltecos love to put these two condiments on almost every food imaginable. I'm kinda getting used to it.

The Despensa Familiar, the local chain grocery store, has lots of things sold in bags that I don't remember seeing much of back home.

Cereal in bags. I think the only brands you see in boxes are imported American kinds.
I like this since even if you buy a box of cereal, there's usually a bag inside, so why bother with the box?

Condiments are mostly sold in bags, and you can see hanging there to the left the empty bottles that you can buy and fill up.
This is all mayonnaise, except the top left corner is two spots for mustard. Ketchup is sold in normal bottles like back home, but then you can buy bags to refill the bottle.

Spaghetti sauce. Yup. Not only in a bag, but in a teeny bag! It's really only one or two servings.
They are just starting to stock larger bags that might be six servings.

Margarine in a bag. Or maybe more like plastic wrap. You can get butter like this too.

What is this? This is GOLD. Well, actually it's clumping cat litter, but it might as well be gold for how easy it is to find around here. I usually buy bags of it at the Despensa really cheap, but when they run out -- as they often do -- I end up going to the pet store by the market and buying these 1 pound bags for Q5. Not a good price, let me tell ya.

In addition to all these neat things in bags, of course you always get your fruits and veggies in a bag when you go to the market. You can get baggies of chopped up veggies and sliced fruit too.

One of the other reasons so many things come in bags is because many tienda owners buy a big bag of something like dog food, and then parcel it out per pound. It's actually quite handy when you're living on a budget. You can go buy just one pound of beans or rice or sugar or whatever.

Hooray for things in bags!